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Timeline
September 1991 – Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan declares its independence. Former Communist leader Rahmon Nabiyev wins the first direct presidential election.
September 1992 – Public demonstrations force Nabiyev to resign. He is replaced in November by one of his former allies, Emomali Rakhmonov.
May 1992 – Rapidly escalating tension between pro-government forces and opposition Islamist and pro-democracy groups leads to a full-scale civil war that lasts for nearly five years and results in estimated fifty-thousand deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees.
December 1992 – Parliament votes to eliminate the presidential system of government. A new government led by Rakhmonov is installed.
June 1993 – The Supreme Court outlaws all opposition political parties. In August 1999 the court lifts the ban.
November 1994 – Voters approve a new constitution, which reinstitutes the presidential system.
December 1994 – The U.N. Security Council establishes the United Nations Mission of Observers to Tajikistan (UNMOT) to monitor a ceasefire agreement between the government and rebels. In December 1996 President Rakhmonov and Islamic opposition leader Syed Abdullo Nuri sign two key accords to stop the fighting and set up a national reconciliation commission to oversee the peace process. In February Rakhmonov and Nuri agree to share power equally in the commission.
February 1998 – Akbar Turajonzoda, the former leader of the Islamic-led opposition, returns to Tajikistan after a five-year exile in Iran. His return is seen as crucial to preserving the fragile peace, as some opposition fighters pointedly refused to disarm in his absence. Turajonzoda assumes the post of first deputy prime minister in the power-sharing government.
November 1998 – The government declares a state of emergency after rebels capture all administrative buildings in the city of Khudzhand, about 125 miles north of the capital.
December 1999 – The government announces the completion of privatization of all small businesses. The privatization of all commercial, catering and consumer services, and enterprises with fewer than one hundred workers is reported to have raised more than $56 million.
December 1999 – Parliament adopts a new electoral law that allows previously banned opposition parties to compete in upcoming parliamentary elections for the first time since the civil war.
February 2000 – The first multi-party parliamentary elections during the transition period take place without serious incident under the watch of UNMOT and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). A new bicameral parliament takes power in March.
September 2001 – Abdurakhim Rakhimov, the culture minister, is shot dead while leaving his house in Dushanbe. Khabib Sanginov, the deputy interior minister and Karim Yuldashev, presidential adviser had been assassinated earlier this year. Rakhimov is the third senior official assassinated by unknown criminals.
September 2002 – After almost a four-year wait, the first private radio station in Dushanbe opens.
June 2003 – Voters approve a constitutional amendment allowing President Rakhmonov to run for two more 7-year terms after his current term expires in 2006.
June 2004 – The election law is amended to improve the transparency and fairness of the electoral process. Changes include opening electoral commission meetings to the public, prohibiting government interference in elections and improving radio and television access for candidates and parties.
August 2004 – Ghaffor Mirzoyev, head of the national anti-drug office, is arrested on charges of murder, terrorism and corruption. Prosecutors claim Mirzoyev cheated the government out of a helicopter contract worth two million somoni (US$650,000), which he then pocketed. In August 2006 he is sentenced to life in prison for planning a coup against the government.
December 2004 – Mahmadruzi Iskandarov, leader of the opposition democratic party, is arrested in Moscow and sought for extradition. He is accused of involvement in terrorism and corruption offenses while he was head of the national gas company. When the extradition request fails, Iskandarov is kidnapped and brought back to Tajikistan where, in October 2005, he is convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
February 2005 – President Rakhmonov's People's Democratic Party wins virtually all seats in the lower house of parliament. International observers criticize the fairness of the elections, in which opposition Islamic and communist parties are all left with virtually no presence in parliament. Potential benefits of the June 2004 amendments to the election law are not realized due to inadequate or arbitrary enforcement.
April 2005 – The foreign ministry issues new regulations requiring foreign embassies and aid organizations to report to the government their contacts with local political and civic activists and give the government advance notice of their meetings with local activists.
January 2006 – A new media law requires international FM radio broadcasters to register with the Justice Ministry and get a media license. However, the 20-day deadline for registration results in the government suspending the BBC's FM frequency services. (The registration process normally takes about six months.) The BBC, which is the only international broadcaster available on FM in Tajikistan and already has a license and legal contract to broadcast, makes a formal complaint to the government.
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